“Laziness is usually seen
as a poor character trait, but it is in fact the result of repressed and
blocked feelings in the system. It is one of the matrices of the lower
self that manifests as paralysis in the face of what needs to be done.
Sometimes the person cannot even get out of bed, and in other cases the
person may be busy doing a lot of things – except that which actually
needs to be done.”

Panti Bliss: IT'S A LANDSLIDE

Less than one hour into the counting of the ballots, leading Irish
activist Panti Bliss is calling it a landslide in favor of same-sex
marriage. Three minutes later David Quinn, founder of the anti-gay Iona
Institute tweeted his congratulations to the Yes Equality side. From the
Irish Times:

First indications show a strong Yes
vote for same-sex marriage in urban areas as counting gets under way in
count centres around the country. Ballot boxes were opened at 9am and
votes cast in the same-sex referendum are being counted first. While the
official result is not expected until this evening, early tallies are
expected to give a clear indication of the likely result. Prominent No
campaigner and director of the Iona Institute David Quinn seemed to
concede the vote tweeting “Congratulations to the Yes site. Well done.”
According to Minister for Equality Aodhán Ó Ríordáin the vote seems to
be heavily in favour of allowing same-sex marriage. Speaking from the
main count centre in Dublin shortly after the first tallies emerged Mr Ó
Ríordáin said: “I think it’s won. I’ve seen bellwether boxes open,
middle-of-the road areas who wouldn’t necessarily be liberal and they
are resoundingly voting yes”. Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin has said
it’s looking like an emphatic yes vote in the same-sex marriage
referendum. Fine Gael Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has said it’s now
a question of whether any constituency will return a no vote.

Leaders on both sides of Ireland's gay
marriage campaign say advocates of legalization have won a resounding
victory with the ballot count still underway. Senior figures from the
"no" campaign, who sought to prevent Ireland's constitution from being
amended to permit gay marriage, say the only question Saturday is how
large the "yes" side's margin of victory will be from Friday's vote. An
Irish Cabinet minister, Leo Varadkar, who came out as gay at the start
of the government's campaign, says Dublin looks to have voted about 70
percent in favor of gay marriage, while most districts outside the
capital also were reporting strong "yes" leads. Official results come
later Saturday. Varadkar said: "We're the first country in the world to
enshrine marriage equality in our constitution and do so by popular
mandate. That makes us a beacon, a light to the rest of the world of
liberty and equality. It's a very proud day to be Irish."

Historic:
With a landslide victory, Ireland is the first country in the world to
pass the freedom to marry by popular referendum! Congrats to ALL who
voted for equality, and to our Irish colleagues who worked so hard on
this momentous fight. Click "like" and share to celebrate this wonderful
step forward: http://bit.ly/1AlvMNy — with Gina Frias.

Our
task as practitioners is to bring the teachings to life in a personal
way. No one can tell us how to do it. This is the practitioner?s
koan?the open question.- Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel, "The Power of an Open Question"

"With a nationwide landslide in favor, Ireland now becomes the first
country in the world to pass the freedom to marry by popular referendum,
as well as the 21st nation and the 10th predominantly Catholic country
in which same-sex couples can marry. Our Irish colleagues at Yes
Equality ran a magnificent campaign and Freedom to Marry is proud to
have shared what we’ve learned in our own campaign here in the US. The
global momentum for the freedom to marry reflects and reinforces the
progress we are making here in the United States – and we look now to
the Supreme Court to bring our country to national resolution, following
Ireland’s good example." - Evan Wolfson, head of Freedom To Marry, via
press release.